Verplank leading while Tiger heals

HOUSTON -- Winning the Tour Championship would be a great way to cap off a remarkable return from injury.

Not just for Tiger Woods, but for Scott Verplank.

Woods only has to deal with an aching back, which he described Friday as a bruise that will be less painful as the week goes on. Verplank has had to overcome three elbow surgeries that nearly ended his career.

Four years after he had to go through qualifying school just to keep his PGA Tour card, Verplank is having his best season ever and moved into position to win his biggest event, the $5 million Tour Championship.

With six birdies and a momentum-saving par from the bunker on No. 16, Verplank had a 6-under 65 on calm, sticky Champions Golf Club and took a one-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer going into the weekend.

Mike Weir of Canada, one of eight players in the elite field who hasn't won this year, had a 66 and was another stroke back.

"I'm playing in a huge tournament against the best players in the world," Verplank said. "All that doesn't mean that much to me until Sunday. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to win, and if I do, I'll probably be excited about it. Up until that point, I'm just looking forward to playing."

Woods was glad to be playing, too, especially after injuring his lower right back in the fitness trailer on the eve of the season-ending tournament.

He at least was able to bend over to tee his ball Friday -- although he lifted his left leg, making it look like a curtsy -- and hit whatever shot was required.

Still, he was sore at the end of the round, and not just because of his back.

An otherwise solid round was spoiled when Woods three-putting from 40 feet on the 18th hole for his only bogey of the round. He tossed his putter at the bag as he left the green and was still steaming after signing for a 67.

"Just got a little sore toward the end," Woods said in response to the condition of his back, although he could have been referring to his emotional state, too.

"An ending like that ... just not feeling very good because I played well all day. To make a silly mistake at the end is not the way you want to cap off your round."

Still, it was quite an improvement from Thursday when Woods had to squat just to stick a tee in the ground and grimaced after just about every shot. He arrived at Champions looking refreshed and in much better spirits, leaning against his locker to read the paper. Asked for the state of his back, he replied, "Good enough."

Woods described the injury as a bruise that's going to be sore for a while.

"All I can do is make sure the range of motion is still there," he said. "Over time, it will just heal itself."

His game recovered nicely, too.

Woods didn't hit a fairway until No. 6, didn't make a birdie until No. 7 -- that after backing off his putt twice because of a fan standing behind a fence taking pictures.

Despite the bogey on the 18th, Woods was at 137 and still in good shape to make a run at the season-ending title worth $900,000 to the winner.

Then again, so was about half the field.

Langer, playing the Tour Championship for the first time since it was created in 1987, had a 68 and was at 133.

Mark Calcavecchia, contemplating surgery because of a foot that has been bothering him since May, had the best score of the day (64) and was at 135 with Justin Leonard (66).

Sergio Garcia, among six players who had a share of the lead at point during the second round, recovered from consecutive bogeys on the back nine for a 67 and was at 136. The 21-year-old Spaniard joined the list of the wounded, complaining of a sore back.

"I just have a knot in my back and it just hurts a little," he said. "Maybe I slept in a bad position or one of those silly things."

Verplank won a U.S. Amateur and NCAA title at Oklahoma State, and also won on the PGA Tour while still an amateur. But the middle part of his career was a blur, thanks to the elbow surgery and his battle with diabetes.

He is past the point of looking back on how much more he could have achieved.

"I'm a lot better player," he said. "I have a better outlook. I was a lot more of a grinder back then, and I might have ground myself into the dirt."

Verplank, a controversial captain's pick to the Ryder Cup team, backed up his selection by winning the Canadian Open at Royal Montreal, but never had time to celebrate. The terrorist attacks happened two days later, and "the world changed."

"Maybe after this week I'll sit back and think about some of the great things that have happened," he said.

Ernie Els and David Duval were in no mood for reflection.

Duval, who won at Champions in 1997, was tied for the lead when he got to the par-5 13th. His tee shot hit a tree, then deflected off a marshal and went into the hazard. He took a penalty drop, hit another tree and went back into the hazard.

After getting up-and-down from a bunker, he had a triple-bogey 8 and was at 138.

"That's tough to swallow," he said. "I'm real disappointed in my score, but that's the rub of the green. I very well could be closer to the lead."

Els had a 68 and was equally upset. He needs a victory at the Tour Championship to keep alive his streak of at least one win in each of the last eight seasons.

"I hit the ball well, but I can't make any putts," he fumed. "I left about three or four out there, just like I've done the last 12 months. I had a 69 and 68, and I feel like it should have been two 66s."

Friday was certainly the day to post that kind of number, with 22 players in the 29-man field breaking par.